CHARACTER AND NATURE OF GOD: "JESUS"
INTENTION:
This is one area of
God’s character and nature I did not relate together—that God is exactly as
Jesus is; and Jesus exactly as God is. So, even though I read about God “doing”
things in the “Old Testament” of the Bible, I could override or put-aside those
things if they contradict anything Jesus demonstrated. Jesus came to reveal the
exact true nature and character of God: both as a Father and as what that
really looked like.
Thus, let us see and
experience God as we see and experience Jesus!
I.
TOPIC (PART 3 – JESUS):
We want to continue to look at the Character and Nature of
God—this time as “Jesus”.
As we learned to see what it means that God is “Good” and
“Love”, we want to see also what it means to see God as “Jesus”. If there is
still any confusion as to God’s character and nature, this is cleared up fully
in Jesus being the exact representation of God—whom we see and experience from
Jesus, is exactly what we can see and experience from God. They are never in disagreement,
and we can always see them as acting and behaving the same ways.
II.
READING: John
8:1-59 (JBP) {PoG}
... Jesus went off to the Mount of Olives.
2-5 Early next morning he returned to the Temple and the
entire crowd came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them. But the
scribes and Pharisees brought in to him a woman who had been caught in
adultery. They made her stand in front, and then said to him, “Now, master,
this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. According to the Law,
Moses commanded us to stone such women to death. Now, what do you say about
her?”
6-9a They said this to test him, so that they might have
some good grounds for an accusation. But Jesus stooped down and began to write
with his finger in the dust on the ground. But as they persisted in their
questioning, he straightened himself up and said to them, “Let the one among
you who has never sinned throw the first stone at her.” Then he stooped down
again and continued writing with his finger on the ground. And when they heard
what he said, they were convicted by their own consciences and went out, one by
one, beginning with the eldest until they had all gone.
9b-10 Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing
where they had put her. So he stood up and said to her, “Where are they all—did
no one condemn you?”
11 And she said, “No one, sir.” “Neither do I condemn you,”
said Jesus to her. “Go home and do not sin again.”
12 Later, Jesus spoke to the people again and said, “I am
the light of the world. The man who follows me will never walk in the dark but
will live his life in the light.”
13 This made the Pharisees say to him, “You are testifying
to yourself—your evidence is not valid.”
14-18 Jesus answered, “Even if I am testifying to myself, my
evidence is valid, for I know where I have come from and I know where I am
going. But as for you, you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
You are judging by human standards, but I am not judging anyone. Yet if I
should judge, my decision would be just, for I am not alone—the Father who sent
me is with me. In your Law, it is stated that the witness of two persons is
valid. I am one testifying to myself and the second witness to me is the Father
who sent me.”
19 “And where is this father of yours?” they replied. “You
do not know my Father,” returned Jesus, “any more than you know me: if you had
known me, you would have known him.”
20 Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the
Temple treasury. Yet no one arrested him, for his time had not yet come.
21 Later, Jesus spoke to them again and said, “I am going
away and you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot
come where I am going.”
22 This made the Jews say, “Is he going to kill himself,
then? Is that why he says, “You cannot come where I am going’?”
23-24 “The difference between us,” Jesus said to them, “is
that you come from below and I am from above. You belong to this world but I do
not. That is why I told you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that
I am who I am, you will die in your sins.”
25-26 Then they said, “Who are you?” “I am what I have told
you I was from the beginning,” replied Jesus. “There is much in you that I
could speak about and condemn. But he who sent me is true and I am only
speaking to this world what I myself have heard from him.”
27-30 They did not realise that he was talking to them about
the Father. So Jesus resumed, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you
will realise that I am who I say I am, and that I do nothing on my own
authority but speak simply as my Father has taught me. The one who sent me is
with me now: the Father has never left me alone for I always do what pleases
him.” And even while he said these words, many people believed in him.
31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you
are faithful to what I have said, you are truly my disciples. And you will know
the truth and the truth will set you free!”
33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and
we have never in our lives been any man’s slaves. How can you say to us, ‘You
will be set free’?”
34-38 Jesus returned, “Believe me when I tell you that every
man who commits sin is a slave. For a slave is no permanent part of a
household, but a son is. If the Son, then, sets you free, you are really free!
I know that you are descended from Abraham, but some of you are looking for a
way to kill me because you can’t bear my words. I am telling you what I have
seen in the presence of my Father, and you are doing what you have seen in the
presence of your father.”
39-41 “Our father is Abraham!” they retorted. “If you were
the children of Abraham, you would do the sort of things Abraham did. But in
fact, at this moment, you are looking for a way to kill me, simply because I am
a man who has told you the truth that I have heard from God. Abraham would
never have done that. No, you are doing your father’s work.” “We are not
illegitimate!” they retorted. “We have one Father—God.”
42-47 “If God were really your Father,” replied Jesus, “you
would have loved me. For I came from God, and I am here. I did not come of my
own accord—he sent me, and I am here. Why do you not understand my words? It is
because you cannot hear what I am really saying. Your father is the devil, and
what you are wanting to do is what your father longs to do. He always was a
murderer, and has never dealt with the truth, since the truth will have nothing
to do with him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks in character, for he is a
liar and the father of lies. And it is because I speak the truth that you will
not believe me. Which of you can prove me guilty of sin? If I am speaking the
truth, why is it that you do not believe me? The man who is born of God can hear
these words of God and the reason why you cannot hear the words of God is
simply this, that you are not the sons of God.”
48 “How right we are,” retorted the Jews, “in calling you a
Samaritan, and mad at that {having a demon}!”
49-51 “No,” replied Jesus, “I am not mad {demon-possessed}.
I am honouring my Father and you are trying to dishonour me. But I am not
concerned with my own glory: there is one whose concern it is, and he is the
true judge. Believe me when I tell you that if anybody accepts my words, he
will never see death at all.”
52-53 “Now we know that you’re mad {demon-possessed},”
replied the Jews. “Why, Abraham died and the prophets, too, and yet you say,
‘If a man accepts my words, he will never experience death!’ Are you greater
than our father, Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets—who are you making
yourself out to be?”
54-56 “If I were trying to glorify myself,” returned Jesus,
“such glory would be worthless. But it is my Father who glorifies me, the very
one whom you say is your God—though you have never known him. But I know him,
and if I said I did not know him, I should be as much a liar as you are! But I
do know him and I am faithful to what he says. As for your father, Abraham, his
great joy was that he would see my coming. Now he has seen it and he is
overjoyed.”
57 “Look,” said the Jews to him, “you are not fifty yet, and
has Abraham seen you?” {Genesis
18}
58 “I tell you in solemn truth,” returned Jesus, “before
there was an Abraham, I AM!”
59 At this, they picked up stones to hurl at him, but Jesus
disappeared and made his way out of the Temple.
III.
RELATED VERSES AND QUESTIONS:
A. Hebrews
1:3 (JBP)
… This Son, radiance of
the glory of God, flawless expression of the nature of God, himself the
upholding principle of all that is…
Question: Do you see God as you see Jesus—with
Jesus being a “flawless expression of the nature of God”?
B. John
5:19-20 (JBP)
Jesus said to them, “I assure you that the Son can do nothing of his own
accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. What the Son does is always
modelled on what the Father does, for the Father loves the Son and shows him
everything that he does himself, Yes, and he will show him even greater things
than these to fill you with wonder.
Question: Have you seen any marvellous things
that Jesus has done in your life?
C. John
9:1-7 (JBP)
Later, as Jesus walked
along he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Master, whose sin caused
this man’s blindness,” asked the disciples, “his own or his parents’?” 3-5 “He
was not born blind because of his own sin or that of his parents,” returned
Jesus, “but to show the power of God at work in him. I must carry on the work
of him who sent me while the daylight lasts. Night is coming, when no one can
work. I am the world’s light as long as I am in it.” 6-7 Having said this, he
spat on the ground and made a sort of clay with the saliva. This he applied to
the man’s eyes and said, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means
“one who has been sent”.) So the man went off and washed and came home with his
sight restored.
·
Refer also: Bible Study Lesson 008 – Health and Healing
Question: Is
it sin that caused him to be born blind; or do you think God made him blind? What
ways can God heal?
D. Matthew
9:1-6 (JBP)
So Jesus re-embarked on
the boat, crossed the lake, and came to his own town. Immediately some people
arrived bringing him a paralytic lying flat on his bed. When Jesus saw the
faith of those who brought him he said to the paralytic, “Cheer up, my son! Your
sins are forgiven.”
At once some of the
scribes thought to themselves, “This man is blaspheming”. But Jesus realised
what they were thinking, and said to them, “Why must you have such evil
thoughts in your minds? Do you think it is easier to say to this man, ‘Your
sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? But to make it quite plain that the
Son of Man has full authority on earth to forgive sins”—and here he spoke to
the paralytic—“Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And the man sprang to his
feet and went home.
Question: Have you ever felt like a sin you
committed can’t be forgiven or a sickness can’t be healed?
E. John
14:11-14 (JBP)
Do you not believe that I
am in the Father and the Father is in me? The very words I say to you are not
my own. It is the Father who lives in me who carries out his work through me.
Do you believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
But if you cannot, then believe me because of what you see me do. I assure you
that the man who believes in me will do the same things that I have done, yes,
and he will do even greater things than these, for I am going away to the
Father. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do—that the Son may
bring glory to the Father. And if you ask me anything in my name, I will grant
it.
Question: Look at all the miracles Jesus did;
can we do anything that Jesus did while He was on the Earth?
F. Matthew
12:25-26 (JBP)
… “Any kingdom divided
against itself is bound to collapse, and no town or household divided against
itself can last for long. If it is Satan who is expelling Satan, then he is
divided against himself—so how do you suppose that his kingdom can continue?
Question: What does it mean for a kingdom/household
to be divided amongst itself (Satan, God, Humans)?
G. Matthew
14:44-46 (JBP)
“Again, the kingdom of
Heaven is like some treasure which has been buried in a field. A man finds it
and buries it again and goes off overjoyed to sell all his possessions to buy
himself that field. 45-46 “Or again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls. When he has found a single pearl of great value, he
goes and sells all his possessions and buys it.
Question: Do you see value in yourself as God
sees in you (you are the treasure and pearl He sold Himself for)?
H. Mark
4:1-8,13-20 (JBP)
1-8 Then once again he
began to teach them by the lake-side. A bigger crowd than ever collected around
him so that he got into the little boat on the lake and sat down, while the
crowd covered the ground right up to the water’s edge. He taught them a great deal
in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said, “Listen! A man once
went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some seed fell by the roadside and
the birds came and gobbled it up. Some of the seed fell among the rocks where
there was not much soil, and sprang up very quickly because there was no depth
of earth. But when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root, it
withered away. And some of the seed fell among thorn-bushes and the thorns grew
up and choked the life out of it, and it bore no crop. And there was some seed
which fell on good soil, and when it grew, produced a crop which yielded thirty
or sixty or even a hundred times as much as the seed.”
13-20 Then he continued, “Do you really not understand
this parable? Then how are you going to understand all the other parables? The
man who sows, sows the message. As for those who are by the roadside where the
message is sown, as soon as they hear it Satan comes at once and takes away
what has been sown in their minds. Similarly, the seed sown among the rocks
represents those who hear the message without hesitation and accept it
joyfully. But they have no real roots and do not last—when trouble or
persecution arises because of the message, they give up their faith at once.
Then there are the seeds which were sown among thorn-bushes. These are the
people who hear the message, but the worries of this world and the false
glamour of riches and all sorts of other ambitions creep in and choke the life
out of what they have heard, and it produces no crop in their lives. As for the
seed sown on good soil, this means the men who hear the message and accept it
and do produce a crop—thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as they
received.”
Question: Look at the four seed examples, do you
see yourself as one type; which one?
IV.
FURTHER THOUGHT:
A. Luke
5:36-39 (JBP)
Then he gave them this
illustration. “Nobody tears a piece from a new coat to patch up an old one. If
he does, he ruins the new one and the new piece does not match the old. 37-39
“Nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst
the skins—the wine will be spilt and the skins ruined. No, new wine must be put
into new wineskins. Of course, nobody who has been drinking old wine will want
the new at once. He is sure to say, ‘The old is a good sound wine.’”
Thoughts: One
aspect of this illustration is that it represents the old wine being spoken of
is the Old Testament and the Laws of Moses. The new wine is that of Jesus and
the New Covenant we have because of Him. We mustn’t mix old and new to create a
doctrine, nor think that we live in the Old Testament. We should always view
ourselves in the Light of Jesus and the reality that we exist post-Cross, not
pre-Cross.
A second aspect of this
parable is the representation of our “old man” versus our “New Man” and the
conflicts that can manifest themselves as we try and get used to the new while
unintentionally holding onto the old.
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & SUPPORT:
A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.
If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:
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